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#mumstories: The Illustrated Collection

Mother’s Day is just around the corner in the UK. This Sunday, millions will be celebrating their Mums with flowers, breakfast in bed, and the all-important phone call. And just about 6000 Mums will be reading books with their names on the covers.

But really, Mums should be celebrated all year round. And not just for the sweeping, swiping, cooking, consoling, encouraging, and general loving-the-dickens-out-of-us that they do each and every day.

Every Mum has her own story.

That’s why we’ve been collecting your “#mumstories” all month long.

It all started by asking a few people around the office to tell a story about their mum. Literal tears were shed, and more than one mum was phoned. We put up a simple post on Facebook asking the same question, then we invited everyone on our newsletter list to play along.

The stories poured in by the dozens, over 500 by last count.

And people weren’t just sharing their own stories. They were reading everyone else’s, laughing, crying, and even commiserating. Mums (and Dads and siblings) were tagged.

We put the talent of our designer Martino Pannofino to the task of illustrating as many #mumstories as he could during March. Below is the whole beautiful collection of 30 original illustrations, all about wonderful Mums.

I used to love Enid Blyton stories, my mum took me and my dad on a themed picnic when I was younger!
– Holly Shannon

If it wasn’t for her I would be literally just working to pay childcare. She has the boys twice a week so we can manage to both work & have some extra ££ for those little boys of ours 😊
– Emily Nell

My mum talks to herself all the time but she once sat down and had full on conversation with herself “Ann go do the washing”, “but I really don’t want too”, “just go and do it”… and it went on like this for a while until she realised we were all staring at her. Me and my sister laughed all day.
– Lauren Howard

I moved 200 miles away from home when I was 17 or so. Broke my mums heart. I used to take a big bag of washing home on public transport. It was more difficult to carry it home than wash it myself, but I knew it made my mum feel better.
– Steven Hanson

When I was little at Christmas one year my mum spend days setting up a treasure hunt which she said was done by father Christmas . It was magical and had fab clues I had to follow. At the end was a toy typewrtiter with a letter from santa lol. Never ever forgot it.
– Jill Cook

BIG THANKS to everyone who shared their #mumstories with us! Got a story about your own mum? Share it just below 🙂

I now live in Switzerland but am originally from Sutton-on-the-forest on the North side of York, small world huh? My mum is a power house and since becoming a mum she inspires me more every day she has now just turned 70 and hops on the plane to come and help me with Nana duty when husband is away with work whilst staying in touch with the kids through WhatsApp and FaceTime and juggling her new business. Here is to strong women and to raising the next generation of them.
– Paula Theibaud

My mum, We were spending Christmas at my Aunts in Wales I would have been about 6 (1955) Another Aunt was having a Boxing Day fancy dress party and my mum dressed as a pirate.
After a few Sherries, well I think it was Dry Fly, mum decided it would be fun to pull a stocking over her head.
I’ve never been so frightened in my life seeing my lovely mum with such a distorted face..Never forgotten it to this day.
– Jenny Harris

I adore my mum now, but we haven’t always had a great relationship. It wasn’t until I became a mum myself that I understood the struggles she must have had, also suffering from mental health problems that people didn’t talk about back in the day. I too suffer from anxiety and depression and find raising one child a challenge – My mum raised 5! I’m not sure how my mum got through some difficult times – yet she still managed to smile and be appreciative of what she had so I’m pretty much the same and will raise my daughter with the same values.
– Caroline Lewis

We go as a family to a place in the new forest we affectionately call BIG Sand hill and my lovely Mum who is currently pretty poorly with cancer has it on her bucket list to get to the top… she almost made it last
time we went but she’s bloomin’ determined that next time she’ll crack it (despite it being a massive struggle!) I think she’ll do it as although being ickle she’s as strong as you like!! Go Granny Dee Dee!
Didn’t think at the beginning of last year she’d see last year’s Mother’s Day, so pretty awesome she’s still here this year to celebrate being the most awesome Mum! 😍
– Emma Spencer

My mum is amazing. She is an old rocker so she came with me to my first concert.
– Ella Kathleen

When at uni and living in Spain I used to phone my mam if I was walking home on my own at night. She would talk to me until I got home safe. These phone calls usually occurred between midnight and 3am.
– Sophie Gatto

Animal activist/fed millions of birds and monkeys in her life/took in stray dogs and rehabilitated them and screened good forever homes for them/helped our whole family beyond measure/volunteer for 10 years with Highway Hospice/worked with handicapped kids/fed cats at.the docks/fed the poor/ did flower arranging in church/baked for and ran fetes for animal welfare funds/babysat grandkids and great grandkids and dogs/helped the sick and dying/ was an amazing mother and grand + great granny and mother in law. always buying presents for everyone and going without herself/fought huge illness but carried on till she was called home on the 15th Feb 2017 in SA . We salute you Val Henderson/GG <3 you were the strongest, kindest, most giving and strong willed person i know. I am proud to have called you my mom Val Henderson <3 A brave fighter right till to the end against all odds and standing up for yourself always. Forever loved and treasured in our hearts. Thank you Lord for this precious gem.xx <3
- Beverley McBurney

Hmmmmm my favourite memory of my mum would be the time she took me to NYC when I was 15. It was my first time there and we just had the best time ever – shopping, Starbucksing, going to a ballet, waiting for me to try on everything in Abercrombie, getting a pedicure when our feet hurt from walking too much. It was also the first time in ages that I didn’t have to share her with all my sisters 💕💕💕
– Jess Hamilton

When I was courting my boy friend Hugh – who is now my husband – I took him home to meet my parents and my mum asked him what he liked for dinner and Hugh said “I like meat balls.” So every single time he came to our house my mum would give him meat balls.
– Pat Hanson

My mom would always say “we lucked out” when I would have a small fall, or hit myself as a small child, but didnt actually hurt myself much.
This kept going for a while until one day I fell and split my eyebrow, leading a fairly spectacular mess, my mom was horrified, and I being scared that she was scared thought that it was my turn to say the magic words, so I said “we lucked out right mom?”
She ended up having a laugh at it, perhaps content that I didnt actually damage my head? A few stitches and I was in good shape.
Since then we always “lucked out” whenever something bad happens and it makes us feel better =)
– Francesc Aran

When breaking up my parents house I found a box of papers which belonged my Mum.
There was a letter on 10 Downing Street paper, with a lovely hand written note signed by Clementine Churchill, from 1944. Thanking my Mum for a donation to the Russian Aid fund.
Mum was 12 in 1944.
I never knew about the letter, and she had never told me about it.
Throughout her life she helped others, every chance she got.
– Diana Dyce

My mum lost the keys for the conservatory once and went ape sh*t trying to find them, we were pretty naughty kids so she thought we must have hid them and she was flying through the house like a mad woman searching for these keys. After a good 20 minutes of flailing her classic 90s perm around shouting random phrases, she found the keys, in the conservatory door, where they had been the whole time. 😒😂😂😂
– Katie Franklin

My mum loved her push bike. She cycled everywhere. When I was in school i started playing the french horn. It was so heavy to carry my mum would meet me at the school gates and take it home balanced on her bike. The big black case it was in made it look like she was cycling round town with a toilet 😀
– Fiona Maclean

When I was about 10 years old, My mum came to watch me play hockey. I got into a fight with the biggest kid on the other team and all I can remember as I was spreadeagled on the floor having punches rained down on me is Dad hanging onto the ankles of my mum as she tried to climb over the glass to get at him!! ( at least I hope it was at him)…
– Paul O’Neill

My mum is so ditzy and she is always losing her glasses. She will hunt for them for ages only to realize they are on her head and once she even found them in the fridge.
– Michelle Ellis

I remember when I was little I had my favourite soft toy – it was a frog – I managed to just wear the whole front right off. She remade the face with acrylic paint and whatnot, just redid the whole thing. It was amazing, so sweet.
– Michael Julian

When i was little we didn’t have a lot. None of the neighbour’s kids did either. However, when I was 4, on my birthday my mum made what she called Jonny cakes and filled them with jelly and convinced us all they were doughnuts and invited all the kids on the street for a doughnut and milk party. She made me feel so rich.
I love you mum and miss you loads xx always in my heart 💗
– Kathy Owen

My mum was adamant that she wanted to to swim with dolphins. So after my mum and dad split, she decided we would go on a once in a lifetime holiday to Florida and swim with dolphins. To this day I remember seeing how happy she was.
I sadly lost my mum at 16, 3 years ago this September, when pregnant to her first grandchild that she never knew about. But she’s always watching over me and my little girl. Will always miss her – she was my best friend.
– Chantal-louise Courtenay Adams

“Hug me and I’ll punch you”
“Fine ice cream for dinner. Just don’t complain about being hungry later”
“You know where food is”
“The dog is the favorite ”
And: laughing he a** off when I shoved a stick of deodorant into my sister’s mouth
– Wednesday Sampson

The other day, I was walking on the street and I remembered a little part of a story that they used to tell us in the Czech Republic. Its about a greedy chicken that chokes on a strawberry he tries to eat whole. I asked my mom for the rest of the story, and she sent it to me via voice message.
Now she sends me voice messages all the time with stories she used to tell me in my childhood. And it catches me unaware, and I find myself tearing up in public.
And my mum, she’ll tell me the moral of the story – like with the chicken, it’s “Don’t be greedy” – and then she’ll add “… so don’t trust men! They’re all greedy jerks!”
– JP Hrubant

My mum was a dressmaker and used to make all my clothes. I always looked so pretty. All my friends would get their parents to make their clothes too.
She could make anything if I showed her a pic – with no pattern. If I was going out that evening, there would always be a new dress made for me. She was a clever lady.
She also made Easter bonnets for people. They came from far and wide. She loved making anything that was fiddly and fancy.
I wish I had her talent – I can make clothes, but not in the same category as she did, and they were made special with lots of love.
She also made uniforms for fire brigade and did their repairs. She was really talented – no material was ever wasted – every tiny cut off was made into something.
– Jenny Richards

My mom was cleaning out some stuff and found a dress that looked covered in blood and broke into tears. I was quite worried until I realized she was having tears of laughter as she requested I get my dad. She then told me it was the dress she wore the night of her engagement party. My father and her got drunk and being a hopeless romantic my dad requested if there was anything she always wanted to do. My mom decided she wanted to paint a large globe light outside of the police station blood red. She was never caught. Miss you mom, you taught me to be a rebel for a story.
– Matt O’Brien

I remember my Mum widowed young in the 1950’s with two young children – no benefits, no widow’s pension, no help with rent – so we moved to a lesser rented property.
To make ends meet, Mum walked with plastic bags over her shoes to keep the snow out.
We were dependent on friends and family and because of them we had holidays with our cousins in the country where we could pick blackberries, help get the cows up for milking, and watch a blacksmith at work.
Mum worked hard for us, and even now at the age of 92 insists on giving us a wonderful Sunday roast from time to time – bless.
– Mo Holliday

My mum always gave me the most amazing birthday parties, but the best was Alice in Wonderland themed with a mad hatters tea party and a big food fight afterwards!
– Lucy Dodd